We Pored Over the Verma Report So You Don’t Have to

This week, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office published his letter to a committee set up under the leadership of former Chief Justice of India J.S. Verma to make recommendations on women’s safety. In it, Mr. Singh promised “we will be prompt in pursuing the recommendations of the Committee.”

Here, with regard to 10 key crimes with a sexual or gender dimension, is how the Verma committee provisions differ from or resemble current law and proposed legislation.

1. Acid Attacks: The committee cited a 2008 report from the Law Commission of India, a body periodically set up to examine legal reform, that noted that assailants who use acid as a weapon especially target “young women for spurning suitors, for rejecting proposals of marriage, for denying dowry.” It’s a form of attack that often leaves the victim’s face mutilated and is deeply psychologically scarring. (Chapter 5, from page 146)

The Verma committee recommends that acid attacks, and attempted acid attacks, be defined as a distinct criminal offence in the Indian Penal Code, in a new Section 326A, offering largely the same definition as that proposed in the criminal law amendment bill. It also recommends that the perpetrator be made to financially compensate the victim, at least enough to cover medical expenses. (Appendix 4,page 435)

And it suggests amending Section 100, which prevents prosecution for murder in instances of self-defense against specific crimes, to include preventing an acid attack.

Current law: This crime is usually prosecuted under the existing Section 326, “voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means,” which includes “any corrosive substance.” The punishment for this is up to 10 years in prison, or a fine, or both.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The proposed legislation, presently with the Rajya Sabha’s home affairs committee, recommends adding two sections to Section 326, to address an acid attack that leaves the victim permanently or partially burned or maimed, as well as to address attempted attacks. The punishment is the same as what the Verma committee recommends, but the draft bill proposes compensation of up to one million rupees (about $19,000) to be paid by the attacker.

For an attempted acid attack, the bill recommends imprisonment of 5 to 7 years.

2. “Eve-teasing”: Many women’s groups complain about this term, which underplays the seriousness of the sort of harassment that women face on the street or on buses and in other public places.

In a section on the problem, the Verma committee quoted copiously from a 2012 Supreme Court judgment that noted “eve-teasing generally occurs in public places which, with a little effort, can be effectively curbed.” The court called the results of not making the effort to do so “disastrous.” (Chapter 5, page 142)

The committee recommends spelling out the behaviors that are normally considered eve-teasing in a completely overhauled Section 354 (the section presently used to prosecute sexual assaults that are not rape). “Using words, acts or gestures towards or in the presence of another person which create an unwelcome threat of a sexual nature or result in an unwelcome advance” would be punishable by a year in jail or a fine, or both. (Appendix 4, page 436)

For the most egregious form of eve-teasing – groping – the committee recommends up to five years in prison. (Appendix 4, page 436).

It also recommends repealing Section 509 (see below).

Current law: Presently, these cases can be registered under Section 509 of the penal code (using words or gestures to “insult the modesty” of a woman, punishable by one year in jail or a fine) or Section 294 (committing an obscene act or singing an obscene song or ballad in a public place, punishable with three months in prison or a fine).

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The bill doesn’t alter the present “modesty” language of Section 509, but it increases the maximum punishment to three years, and clarifies that the fine should not be “less than one thousand rupees.”

Demonstrators held a placard during a protest in New Delhi, Jan. 16.

Harish Tyagi/European Pressphoto Agency

It also doesn’t alter the language of Section 354, which prohibits the use of “assault or criminal force to a women with the intent to outrage her modesty.”

Women’s groups have described this language as archaic, for drawing upon problematic notions of “honor” and “chastity,” as well as vague. The bill does increase the punishment for those convicted under this section from a maximum of two years to two to five years.

3. Gang rape: The Verma Committee recommends two new sections on gang rape as part of Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code. The language proposed is gender neutral, unlike the existing Section 375, which defines rape as a crime that can only be perpetrated on a woman.

In the first section the committee proposes, when “a person is raped by one or more in a group of persons…each of these persons shall be deemed to have committed the offence of gang rape, regardless of their gender,” and the punishment will be 20 years to life imprisonment. (Page 444)

When a gang rape results in the victim’s death or leaves the person in a coma, the minimum punishment will be life imprisonment.

Current law: Sections 375 and 376 of the penal code deal with rape and sentencing, respectively.A sub-section of Section 376 stipulates that the minimum punishment for a person convicted of gang rape should be 10 years – not seven — as in many other cases of rape. Gang rape is defined as “where a woman is raped by one or more in a group of persons acting in furtherance of their common intention, each of the persons shall be deemed to have committed gang rape.”

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The bill substitutes the words “sexual assault” throughout Sections 375 and 376, abandoning the word “rape” entirely. Sexual assault, according to the proposed definition, includes penetration “for a sexual purpose” of the vagina, anus, urethra or mouth of a person by a perpetrator who is using either his own body or an object in the attack. The definition of gang rape – although now called sexual assault – is much the same as the existing definition, as is the punishment.

4. Honor killings: “The nation suffers from the existence of chauvinistic institutions like ‘khap panchayats,’ which, unfortunately, are politically so powerful that they overrule, with impunity, the constitutionally mandated administration of equality in favour of women, by using extra constitutional, oppressive methods of punishment,” said the committee.

Khap panchayats are community bodies, especially common in states such as Punjab and Haryana, that issue diktats on marriage and caste issues.

“One of the most prevalent practices employed by Khap Panchayats to enforce their decisions is that of ‘Honor Killing,’” said the committee.

Protesters during a rally in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Dec. 30, 2012.

Sam Panthaky/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Still, the committee appeared to be in agreement with a recent Law Commission of India report that recommended legislation to prohibit individuals or community groups from ganging up to prevent lawful marriages but did not favor amending murder provisions.

The committee confined itself to remarking that it “expects the State to ensure that these institutions will not interfere with the choices made by men and women in respect of marriage.” (Chapter 8, Page 233)

Current law: Presently such killings are prosecuted under provisions relating to murder.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The bill does not address the issue of honor killings but the Law Commission of India is in the process of drafting the The Prohibition of Unlawful Assembly (Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances) Bill, 2011.

5. Marital rape: Another recommendation by the Verma panel is to remove the exception for marital rape that presently exists.

It recommends inserting new language into an overhauled Section 375: “Consent will not be presumed in the event of an existing marital relationship between the complainant and the accused.” (Appendix 4, page 440)

Current law: The opening paragraph of Section 375 of the penal code says that anyone who commits rape must be punished with a prison term of at least seven years unless “the woman raped is his own wife and is not under twelve years of age.”

However, the law does say, under Section 376A, that a husband who rapes his wife while they are separated should be punished with two years jail time and a fine.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The bill increases the punishment under 376A to two to seven years jail time.

Other than that, sexual acts between a husband and wife will not constitute sexual assault, as long as the wife is not younger than 16.

6. Rape by the State: The committee noted that sexual violence against women in the conflict areas of the northeast, Kashmir, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh is a serious issue that has been “often neglected.” (Chapter 5, page 149)

“We notice that impunity for systematic or isolated sexual violence in the process of Internal Security duties is being legitimized by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act,” said the report. “It must be recognized that women in conflict areas are entitled to all the security and dignity that is afforded to citizens in any other part of our country.”

The panel recommends amending the section of the AFSPA that requires prior government approval for prosecution for crimes committed in areas where the act is in effect, to create an exception in cases of rape or sexual assault. (Appendix 4, page 453)

The committee also recommends appointing special commissioners in conflict areas who have the power to “initiate action for redress and criminal prosecution in all cases of sexual violence against women by armed personnel.”

The punishment for an act of rape committed by a member of the armed forces starts at 10 years and can go up to life.

Current law: The Armed Forces Special Powers Act allows Indian security forces to raid any premises without a warrant and arrest or shoot anybody they find suspicious, among other powers. A security officer doing so will only face prosecution with prior government sanction. The law is in effect in northeastern India and Kashmir.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012:The proposed bill is silent on rape in conflict areas.

7. Stalking: In recent years, there have been several widely publicized cases in which a young woman was killed by a stalker.

The Verma Committee recommends adding a provision under Section 354 that would demarcate stalking as an offence. Anyone who follows or contacts a person, “despite a clear indication of disinterest,” even via means of electronic communication, is punishable for a minimum period of one year and up to three years. (Appendix 4, Page 437)

Current law: There is no provision in the Indian Penal Code for specifically prosecuting stalking.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The bill does not address stalking.

The reading on a placard during a protest in New Delhi, Jan. 15.

Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

8. Publicly stripping a woman: This is a frequent form of assault with a caste dynamic – it is a crime frequently carried out by upper-caste men against lower-caste women in rural India.

The committee would add a provision to Section 354 stipulating that “whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman or abets such act with the intention of disrobing or compelling her to be naked in any public place” will face jail time of three to seven years and a fine.

Current law: This is not defined as an offence presently, but can be prosecuted under the existing Section 354.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The draft legislation is silent on this.

9. Sexual harassment in the workplace: The report noted that there was no debate when draft legislation against sexual harassment was tabled and passed by the Lok Sabha in September, and was quite critical of the existing bill.

“We note that Section 10(1) of the Sexual Harassment Bill, 2012 stipulates that on receipt of complaint of sexual harassment, conciliation must be attempted between the complainant and respondent,” said the committee. “This is in violation of the mandate prescribed by the Supreme Court.” (Chapter 4, page 127)

“In matters of harassment and humiliation of women an attempt to compromise the same is indeed yet another way in which the dignity of women is undermined,” it said.

The committee also recommended that any law that is enacted must cover “the armed forces and police,agricultural workers and women students andstaff of all schools and educational institutions.”

Current law: A Supreme Court judgment of 1995 in Vishakha v. The State of Rajasthan laid down binding directives on the issue.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2012: This draft legislation, which defines behaviors that constitute sexual harassment and covers domestic workers, was passed by the lower house in September and is now with the Rajya Sabha, the upper house. It proposes that workplaces set up complaints committees, to be headed by a senior female employee, to examine sexual harassment incidents.

Failure to set up such a committee could lead to a fine up of up to 50,000 rupees (just under $1,000) for an employer. Complaints of sexual harassment must be reported within three months of the most recent incident.

The Verma committee suggested that an outside tribunal should examine such complaints instead.

10. Trafficking: The panel devoted over 50 pages to trafficking, calling it a “complex crime” that targets women and young girls for many reasons. Trafficking is often for prostitution but increasingly it’s for the purposes of providing domestic labor in cities as well. (Chapter 6,Page 152)

The committee suggested a much more detailed definition of trafficking to replace the existing Section 370 (“buying and disposing of any person as a slave”) of the Indian Penal Code, which would also criminalize employing a trafficked person, although the proposed provision doesn’t deviate from existing sentencing. (Appendix 4,Page 438)

Current law: Section 370 is used to prosecute trafficking crimes and carries a minimum sentence of seven years. Buying or selling a minor for prostitution (Sections 372 and 373) carries a minimum sentence of 10 years.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The bill does not discuss trafficking.

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